Kabul, Dec 10 (IANS) At least two commuters were killed and 16 others injured in multiple traffic accidents reported across Afghanistan over the past 24 hours, local police confirmed on Wednesday.
In northern Baghlan province’s Dushi district, a head-on collision between two vehicles claimed one life and left four people injured. In eastern Wardak province, two separate incidents resulted in one fatality and five injuries.
Seven people sustained injuries in another crash in the Hazrat Sultan district of northern Samangan province. Authorities attributed the accidents primarily to reckless driving, warning that driver negligence on overcrowded and poorly maintained roads continues to claim lives, Xinhua News Agency reported.
The latest incidents follow two separate accidents on Monday and Sunday in northern Faryab and Kunduz provinces that killed five people and injured 23 others, including women and children.
On December 8, at least two passengers lost their lives, and 20 others sustained injuries when a bus overturned in northern Afghanistan’s Kunduz province, local police reported.
The incident occurred in the Ali Abad district along the highway linking northern Badakhshan province to the capital Kabul late on December 8, and was caused by reckless driving, provincial police spokesman Jumaddin Khaksar said.
Police and emergency services quickly responded, transporting the injured to nearby health centres for treatment, Khaksar added.
The crash follows another fatal accident earlier in the week. On Wednesday, four commuters were killed and two others injured after their vehicle plunged into a river in northern Badakhshan province.
Thousands of people die in traffic accidents across Afghanistan each year, often due to reckless driving, overloaded vehicles, poor road conditions, lack of traffic signs, and dilapidated highways.
On December 4, one commuter was killed, and 12 others were injured when two cars collided with each other in eastern Afghanistan’s Laghman province, provincial police spokesman Mohammad Yunus Yusufzai said.
Blaming reckless driving for the accident, the official added that three women were among the injured, some in critical condition.
On November 23, a road accident killed 10 people and injured more than 10 in Afghanistan’s western Herat province, the statement of the provincial police office said.
A crash occurred along the Herat-Kandahar highway, one of the country’s busiest routes connecting the western and southern regions, according to the statement.
A car collided head-on with an oncoming vehicle, killing 10 commuters and injuring over 10 others.
–IANS
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